Humidifiers



H. P. GlRouD HUMIDIFIERS March 31, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed'Aug. 5, 1960 H. P. GIROUD 'HUMIDIFIERS 'March 31, 1964 Tim.

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March 3l, 1964 H. P. GiROUD 3,127,106

HUMIDIFIERS Filed Aug. 5, 1960 4 sheets-sheet 4 United States Patent @thee 3,127,106 Patented Mar. 31, 1964 3,127,166 HUMIDIFIERS Henri Phiiibert Giraud, 87 Rue de la Republique, Montmorency, Seine et Oise, France Filed Aug. 5, 1960, Ser. No. 47,756 Claims priority, application France Aug. 10, 1959 2 Claims. (Cl. 237-73) To prevent the excessive drying of the atmosphere in rooms heated by radiators, humiditiers are frequently used which consist of tubes, generally of porous material, which are lled with water and secured on the radiators ot which the heat causes the water contained therein to evaporate.

The hitherto known devices of this character are not very convenient to use, and furthermore they become rapidly ineiiicient and have a poor appearance.

it is an essential object of the present invention to provide an apparatus avoiding these various drawbacks and consisting to this end of a supporting, container-carried plate adapted to be fitted directly on the top of a radiator; the piate is provided with means for suspending tubular containers at a variable relative spacing, so that they may extend in the intervais or spaces between the radiator sections or elements irrespective of the thickness of these elements, so that the same apparatus may be used with all conventional types of radiators.

The means for suspending the tubular containers consist preferably of one or more longitudinal slots of same width as the container so that the latter may slide longitudinally in this slot. Each container is formed at its upper end with a flange adapted to engage the edges of the slot and therefore to suspend the relevant container from the supporting plate.

Also desirably, these containers are made of metal, since containers made of porous material become rapidly impervious by clogging, and these containers may be provided with a wick extending down to .the bottom of the container. The upper end of the wick is somewhat widened and attached by this widened portion on the top or flange of the container.

Preferably, the supporting plate is provided with raised longitudinal edges and adapted to rece-ive a perforated cover or lid acting both as a tray and as an ornamental member, the inner or lower face of this lid is lined, if desired, with a filter cloth for example of nylon or like material.

This supporting plate may be symmetrical, that is, formed with two longitudinal slots receiving two series or rows of containers disposed on either side of the radiator between the heating elements thereof; in this case the humidifier according to this invention may be laid as such on the radiator to form an integral part thereof without necessitating any fastening means; thus, a two-row humidifier constitutes a particularly simple embodiment to be preferred whenever possible.

However, this form of embodiment is unsuitable for radiators nested in recesses in walls, under windows, etc., or in the case of radiators already provided with a fixed tray to prevent the ascend-ing air draught from soiling the wall above the radiators. In this case the supporting plate may be asymmetric since it can only carry one row of containers on the front of the radiator, and some fastening means must necessarily be provided which permit the transverse sliding movement of the supporting plate to release the containers from the recess or from the tray, and also the transverse sliding movement of the cover or lid to free the top of the containers.

To this end, an intermediate plate may be provided which is formed on the one hand with longitudinal slots permitting the passage of flanges for securing the containers on the radiator and on the other hand with transverse slots to guide the sliding movement of the supporting plate, the cover being similarly formed with transverse slots to guide its sliding movement.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, .the invention resides in the novel arrangement and combination of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE l is a perspective exploded View showing a first form of embodiment of the invention.

FIGURES 2 to 6 reiate to another form of embodiment, FIGURES 2 and 3 being cross-sectional views showing the apparatus in its loading position and operative position respectively, FIGURES 4 and 5 being longitudinal sections taken upon the lines IV-IV and V-V respectively of FIG. 2, and FGURE 6 being a perspective exploded view showing the different component elements of the apparatus except the container.

FIGURES 7 to l0 are sectional views showing diiierent modifications.

The apparatus illustrated comprises a supporting plate 1 adapted to bear directly on the radiator 2 and formed with two longitudinal spaced parallel slots 3, 4 in which cylindrical containers 5 of substantially elliptical cross section are adapted to siide so as to iit in the spaces formed between the upstanding connected different heating elements or sections 6 of the radiator; these containers 5 are suspended from the supporting plate 1 by means of a iiange 7 formed integrally with the upper edge of each container. The flanges are dimensicned so as not to completely overlie the respective slots as can be seen in FIG. 1 thereby to permit upward airiiow through the respective slots in which the containers are dependingly suspended.

The supporting plate 1 comprises raised longitudinal edges 8 and bosses or distance-pieces 9 adapted to support the cover or lid of the apparatus, which consists of a perforated sheet metal member 10 having longitudinal turndown edges 11 and an inner iilter 12 consisting for example of nylon fabric or the like.

In the form of embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 6 of the drawings, an additional complementary plate 13 is provided. This complementary plate 13 is secured on the radiator by means of clamping coliars 14 engaging longitudinal slots 15, 16 or 17; transverse slots 18 and 19 are also formed with a view to guide the sliding movements of bolts 32 rigid with the supporting plate 21. The bolts 32 having their heads disposed beneath the complementary plate 13 and their nuts 22 disposed above this plate, as shown. The two side edges 23, 24 of the complementary plate 13 formed with the transverse slots 18, 19 are slightly raised by shoulders 2S, Z6 to facilitate the sliding movements of the heads of bolts 32; these bolts engage the longitudinal slots 33 of the plate so as to permit a moderate longitudinal sliding movement thereof.

The flange 7 of the cylindrical containers 5 are each formed with a lug extension 27 carrying on its outer end a pin, tooth or stud 28 on which the widened end 29 of wicks 211 immersed in the water or other liquid contained in the containers 5 may be attached.

The cover or lid is similar to that of the preceding form of embodiment except that it is formed at either end with a transverse slot 3@ tting around a shoulder 31 formed to this end on the upper portion of the bosses or distancepieces 9 having preferably an elongated configuration in order efficiently to guide the cover with respect to the supporting plate.

To permit the checking of the containers and if necessary the lilling thereof with water or another suitable a liquid, the supporting plate with the containers carried thereby is caused to slide transversely with respect to the complementary plate and to the radiator in order to release the containers from the heating elements of the radiator; then the cover is slid in the opposite direction with respect to the supporting plate in order to release the containers which may then be extracted as shown in FIG. 2.

Of course, the two forms of embodiment described hereinabove with reference to the attached drawings are given only by way of example and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention as many modications may be brought thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. Thus, notably, each plate may be divided, if desired, into a number of sub-plates, and the means provided on one of them for guiding the sliding of the other sub-plates may be inverted from one another.

Thus, for example, instead of being secured by screws as shown in FIG. 1, the cover 10 may be held in position by a shoulder 34 formed on top of the bosses or distancepieces 9 and engaging the bore 35 as shown in FIG. 7.

The transverse sliding movements of the cover 10 may be guided by a suitable guide member 36 secured by a screw 37 on the boss 9 and forming therewith a groove 45, as shown in FIG. 8.

To facilitate the sliding movement f the supporting member 2 with respect to the complementary plate 13, the bolt 32 of FIG. 6 may be replaced with a roller 38 (FIG. 9) secured on the washer 39 by a screw 40.

According to a further modiiication illustrated in FIG. l0 the complementary plate 13 carries a tapped socket 41 engaged by a guide rod 42 and the supporting plate 1 is rigid with a slide block 43 sliding on this rod 42, the length of this rod 42 being chosen as a function of the amplitude of the sliding movement necessary for releasing the supporting plate.

The means illustrated for attaching the upper end of the wicks may be replaced with a clamping or other device without departing from the scope of the invention.

Moreover, the relative proportions and dimensions of the component elements of the apparatus of this invention and the materials from which they are made may be changed and selected without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with a radiator having a number of connected, upstanding spaced sections, a humidifier comprising, a container-carrier plate positionable in operation over said sections, said plate having a plurality of spaced slots disposed symmetrically with respect to the vertical median plane of said radiator sections in registry with the spaces between successive radiator sections, a plurality of elongated containers for containing a liquid therein and suspendable in operation from said plate extending through respective ones of said slots downwardly from said plate between said radiator sections, each container having an upper flange for releasably suspending it from said plate extending through said respective slots, the upper Flange of each of the containers being dimensioned so as not to completely overlie a respective slot thereby to permit upward airflow through the respective slots, a wick for each container having a part extending upwardly, outwardly of said container, a perforated cover positionable in operation on said plate overlying said plate and containers suspended therefrom, and a filter in said cover.

2. In combination with a radiator having a number of connected, upstanding spaced, sections, a humidifier comprising, a container-carrier plate positionabie in operation over said sections, said plate having a plurality of spaced slots disposed symmetrically with respect to the vertical median plane of said radiator sections in registry with the spaces between successive radiator sections, a plurality of elongated containers for containing a liquid therein and suspendable in operation from said plate extending through respective ones of said slots downwardly from said plate between said radiator sections, each container having an upper ange for releasably suspending it from said plate extending through said respective slots, the upper flange of each of the containers being dimensioned so as not to completely overlie a respective slot thereby to permit upward airiiow through the respective slots, a wick for each container having a part extending upwardly, outwardly of said container, a perforated cover positionable in operation on said plate overlying said plate and containers suspended therefrom, a filter in said cover, and said cover having longitudinal slots for movement transversely of said median plane to allow inspection and removal of said containers by withdrawal upwardly through said respective slots in said plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,058,808 Thilges Apr. l5, 1913 1,155,701 Bliss Oct. 5, 1915 1,284,765 Poetsch Nov. 12, 1918 1,426,286 Ganet Aug. 15, 1922 1,760,633 Crawford May 27, 1930 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A RADIATOR HAVING A NUMBER OF CONNECTED, UPSTANDING SPACED SECTIONS, A HUMIDIFIER COMPRISING, A CONTAINER-CARRIER PLATE POSITIONABLE IN OPERATION OVER SAID SECTIONS, SAID PLATE HAVING A PLURALITY OF SPACED SLOTS DISPOSED SYMMETRICALLY WITH RESPECT TO THE VERTICAL MEDIAN PLANE OF SAID RADIATOR SECTIONS IN REGISTRY WITH THE SPACES BETWEEN SUCCESSIVE RADIATOR SECTIONS, A PLURALITY OF ELONGATED CONTAINERS FOR CONTAINING A LIQUID A THEREIN AND SUSPENDABLE IN OPERATION FROM SAID PLATE EXTENDING THROUGH RESPECTIVE ONES OF SAID SLOTS DOWNWARDLY FROM SAID PLATE BETWEEN SAID RADIATOR SECTIONS, EACH CONTAINER HAVING AN UPPER FLANGE FOR RELEASABLY SUSPENDING IT FROM SAID PLATE EXTENDING THROUGH SAID RESPECTIVE SLOTS, THE UPPER FLANGE OF EACH OF THE CONTAINERS BEING DIMENSIONED SO AS NOT TO COMPLETELY OVERLIE A RESPECTIVE SLOT THEREBY TO PERMIT UPWARD AIRFLOW THROUGH THE RESPECTIVE SLOTS, A WICK FOR EACH CONTAINER HAVING A PART EXTENDING UPWARDLY, OUTWARDLY OF SAID CONTAINER, A PERFORATED COVER POSITIONABLE IN OPERATION ON SAID PLATE OVERLYING SAID PLATE AND CONTAINERS SUSPENDED THEREFROM, AND A FILTER IN SAID COVER. 